Staff Christmas Party
by Jelsemium
Summary: Christmas at CalSci.


Title: Staff Christmas Party  
15 Minute Challenge: Christmas  
Time: 43 Minutes  
Word Count: 754

Holiday parties came very close to almost making up for the stress of finals. They'd come closer if they didn't come with a certain amount of stress themselves, Charlie thought.

Should he give Millie a present, or would that be considered 'sucking up'? Should he hand out his Holiday cards at the party or stick them in everybody's mail slots?

What if his secret Santa gave him something embarrassing. (He would never live down the "Speling 4 Dumees" book that some alleged wit had printed up for him last year. And if Fleinhardt thought he had gotten away with that, he had another think coming.)

Ironically, the name he had drawn for the Secret Santa was Amita. He had already bought her a Christmas present, but the Secret Santa had a price limit that his gift for Amita exceeded by a considerable margin.

However, he had no problem buying Amita a second gift. In fact, he had found a lovely little gift just minutes after he walked into the mall.

The holiday party went as usual. The music was too loud. The turkey was dried out. Everybody conspired to keep Dr. Rachel Osaki far away from the egg nog, even though they were 98.6 certain that she wouldn't actually poison anybody.

The decorations, however, were a vast improvement over last year's. Ray Galeski's mechanical skills combined with Alan Eppes's sense of style had turned the conference room into a dazzling fantasy land.

Charlie dreaded going home, because he just knew Alan already had PLANS for the Craftsman.

However, until the moment of doom arrived, Charlie laughed and chatted with his colleagues until the most stressful time of the party arrived. Handing out the gifts.

Charlie realized that his father had been Bill Waldie's secret Santa, because he recognized the USB Mini Desktop Aquarium that had been sitting on the dining room table for weeks.

Alan smirked at Charlie when he opened his package and found a Marshmallow Assault Rifle. Charlie glared around the room and decided that he had Ray to blame for this one.

He opened his own present with some trepidation, but was happy and relieved to see a Firewheel Rubber Band Gun. He wouldn't be defenseless after all. He shot his father a smirk of his own.

Then they hit upon a truce and both mouthed "_Don's going down_" across the room at each other.

Charlie was a little nervous when Amita opened her present. He hadn't gone for a fancy gadget. Instead he had gone for something sweet.

"Oh, how beautiful," Amita marveled. She held up the Christmas ornament – a ceramic reindeer with gilt highlights.

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.

After the party, Charlie walked Amita to her car.

"I wonder who gave me the Rubber Band Gun," Charlie mused. "I owe him, or her, a favor for giving me some defense against Dad's marshmallows."

"I believe that RayRay gave that to you," Amita said.

"Really?" Charlie said. "I thought he gave the marshmallow thing to Dad."

Amita shook her head. "No, that was Larry's doing."

Charlie feigned clutching at his heart. "Oh, the humanity!" He made a face at Amita when she laughed. "What? This is the second year in a row he's backstabbed me."

Amita had to lean against him because she was laughing so hard.

Charlie stopped her laughter by putting his mouth over hers.

When they broke away from the kiss, Amita smiled sweetly. "Oh, and thanks for the Christmas ornament, it's lovely."

Charlie felt himself blushing. "I'm glad you liked it," he said. He ran his hand through his curls. "Um, I guess I'm easy to read, huh?"

Amita nodded. "Well, that, too," she admitted. "My first hint was the origami rose you used as a bow."

Charlie grinned. "I'm glad you like it," he said. "I wasn't entirely sure if it was appropriate to give you a Christmas ornament."

Amita held it up. "I love Christmas decorations, even if I'm not Christian," she said. "I especially like the detail of the reindeer's pack… all the little presents going to good little girls and boys."

She squinted at it again, then had to sit down because she was laughing so hard.

"What?" Charlie asked.

Amita tilted the ornament so he could read the bottom.

"Made in Thailand... So?" his forehead crinkled in puzzlement.

Amita beamed at him. "Only in America could a Jew give a Hindu a Christmas ornament made by a Buddhist!"

"_Viva le melting pot_," Charlie agreed before he kissed Amita again.


End file.
